Achieving while looking forward: variables influencing performance in the transitory career phases of professional women’s handball

This paper investigates what variables may influence long-term performance in the transitory phases of a team athlete's career according to the perceptions of the athletes themselves. Narrative research was conducted with 16 world-class, retired women handball players and the qualitative analysis reveals those factors that influenced their performance in the transitory phases "from development to mastery" and "from mastery to discontinuation" on the individual, interpersonal, organisational, and sociocultural levels. The variables are organised into a systems map to provide a full overview as well as the perceived relationships between them. The practical implication of the paper is to draw the attention of those organisations that aim to improve long-term performance to the leverage points that athletes themselves find important.